The Temple of the Lost Delta
by GoblinQueeen
Summary: A GoblinQueeen/PrincessZeldaBelle collab. A funny little crossover -- when Rick and the gang search in the jungles of India, anything can and does happen.


The Temple of the Lost Delta by GoblinQueeen and PrincessZeldaBelle

Rated ~ PG 

Disclaimer is below.

Author's Note ~ This is our first technical collaboration (though we've given each other a thousand ideas back and forth.)  This was certainly one of the more difficult stories either of us have ever done...fieldwork was actually done. :)  If anybody actually catches the joke here, we stand and applaud you!  If you can't figure it out or don't know and are dying to, e-mail either of us (goblinqueeen@aol.com or princesszeldabelle@princesszeldabelle.8m.com) and we'll gladly let you in on our inside joke. 

            The shriek of a distant macaw broke through the air.  Hardly the most vicious of jungle animals, but it still caused Randi to jump backwards, tripping over a vine that lay in their path.

            "Watch it, Bevyn," Rick said picking her up off the ground.

            "At least I didn't land on your foot.  That's something, right?" she said with a slight giggle as she dusted herself off.

            "She's got you there, Rick," Evy said with a subtle grin.

            "Oh, very funny, both of you," Rick grumbled, moving on.            Somehow, anything heavy in Miranda's possession was magnetically drawn to Rick's foot.  It was a strange phenomenon.  She might have to write a paper on it one of these days ...   "Maybe you should ride in the Jeep with Jonathan and Alex."

            "Well, I feel like walking," Randi said, taking another spill over a tree root.  "Oh, all right."  Jonathan pulled up behind the group clearing the path, stopping with a jerk as Randi clambered in next to Alex.

            "Dad," Alex called out.  "Can't I drive?"

            "No," Rick answered without a thought.

            "But Jonathan's driving is starting to make me sick!"

"Just how much farther is it, anyway?" Randi said, jumping at the sound of another of the jungle's residents letting out a loud growl, as the jeep roared and lurched forward.

            "It shouldn't be far," Evy murmured as she examined the parchment in front of her.  "According to this, we should almost be right on top of it."

            "Are you sure this map is the real deal?" Jonathan asked.  "I certainly don't see anything." He pulled out a handkerchief, mopping the sweat from his brow as he brought the jeep to yet another halt, waiting for the path to be cleared.

            "Of course it is," Evy said, rolling up the parchment carefully around the two golden snakes attached at the ends of the map as she and Rick set to tearing down the wall of tangled vines.

            "Don't forget how twinkle-toes managed to find it," Rick said, hacking away with a large scimitar.

            "How many times do I have to apologize?" Randi said, remembering quite clearly how the worktable broke out from under her while she worked on a rather stubborn relief, sending the large stone tablet into a carefully placed pile of pottery.  The gold of the snakes buried in the rubble of the pottery had drawn Jonathan's attention immediately.   "Besides, it wasn't *entirely* my fault.  If someone hadn't been sitting on the table."  Her eyes drifted toward Jonathan.

"Umm, I don't mean to interrupt this intriguing debate," Jonathan said, glancing wearily to his left, "but are there any poisonous snakes around here we should be aware of?"

            "Oh lots of them," Evy said unrolling the map as Rick pulled down the last of the vines.  "Why do you ask?"

            "Oh, no—no reason," Jonathan stuttered as he gassed the jeep, lurching it away from the tree where a long black and red snake had begun to slither its way down the trunk.  They bumped along a few more feet until the jeep sputtered to a silent stop.

            "What did you do, Jonathan?" Rick asked, turning back to see the jeep stalled.

            "Nothing! I swear it!"  Randi hopped out of the jeep, throwing up the hood to be greeted by plumes of smoke.  She waved it away with a cough, looking carefully at the jumbled mass of machinery.

            "And just what do you expect to find?" Rick asked, coming up behind her.

            "Well, I don't know," Randi said defensively, placing her hands gingerly on her hips.  "You men seem to be able to figure out what's wrong by simply looking at it."  Rick waved his hand as Randi stepped aside with a huff.

            "Alex, I thought I asked you to fill the radiator up with water this morning?" Rick said, pulling off the cap with a rag.

            "I did!" Alex shot back from the seat in the jeep.

            "I'll get the canteen," Randi said, walking toward the back of the jeep just as Jonathan jumped out, slamming into her and together, they careened down the embankment several feet before she thudded to a stop.

            "You guys all right down there?" Randi could hear Rick shout from above.

            "I think so," she called back rubbing her head.  She took a quick accounting to make sure she wasn't missing any vital limbs.  Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at what had broken their fall.  Gratefully, she accepted the hand Jonathan offered her as she stared in awe at the great stone pillar.  It was intricately carved with the shape of a snake on all four sides.  Balanced on the top of the four heads was a bowl to hold oil for a torch.  Her jaw was still dropped open as the rest of the group slid down the hillside. 

            "My God..." Evy stared breathless.  "It does exist."

            Everyone's eyes moved at once up a long row of the carved pillars to the steps of an enormous stepped pyramid overgrown with jungle life.  At the top was a large decorated orb.  It was similar to many of the other temples found in India, yet in some implacable way, it was still unique.  The stones were worn and crumbling, flaking slightly to the touch.  Randi recoiled as a tooth dropped from one of the large stone snakes on either side of the entry.

            Bringing the jeep carefully down the embankment, they packed what gear they needed, preparing for the temple.

            "Dad, I wanna go," Alex said.

            "No, you're staying here with the jeep." Rick said, holstering his guns.  "I've already got two children to look after.  I don't need a third."  Randi and Jonathan stuck out their tongues in unison at Rick's back.

            "But Muuuuuuum," Alex whined, turning to his mother.

            "You heard your father.  Well, come on then," Evy said as she mounted the steps with hardly a second glance.

            "Hon, I don't know that we should just go barging in here," Rick said as he followed close on her heels.

            "Oh, nonsense," Evy replied as she sidestepped a small snake slithering in front of her, stepping into the first chamber, followed closely by Rick, Jonathan, and Randi.

            "They never let me have any fun anymore," Alex could be heard pouting as he sat in the driver's seat of the jeep.

            Randi squealed as the snake coiled back, coming near her foot.  She leapt away from it, straight into a large fresco.  Her fingers carefully pulled away the vines and growth that had dropped through holes in the ceiling.  Finally, what lay before them was a mural of a figure, laden with gold, pouring water out of a jug.  Around the neck was what appeared to be an amulet of sorts, the image of an eye imprinted upon it.

            "It's Mara," Evy whispered, moving in closely.

            "Who?" everyone else chimed in unison.

            "Mara," Evy prattled hurriedly.  "She's the deity this temple was built for, or by, or however you choose to say it.  Legend has it she bestowed invaluable wealth on her followers."

            "Thus the bountiful imagery," Randi chimed in, proud of herself that she actually figured something out.

            "Really?" Jonathan asked, his eyes beginning to glitter.

            "Yes," Evy continued, "but the accounts are sketchy at best.  She also supposedly had a terrible wrath."

            "Well, let's just not go incurring anyone's wrath then, hmm?" Rick said with a half grin as he paused to light a torch.  "What are these markings?" he said holding the light up to another wall.

            "It looks like writing," Randi said as she dusted off a bit of dirt, "but it's like none I've ever seen."

            "It has to be the dialect used by worshipers at this temple," Evy said taking the torch from Rick, following the chiseled letters down the tunnel.  "It resembles some Islamic and Arabic texts, but it's much more like cuneiform writing."

            "It's all over the place," Randi gasped as she looked around in the torchlight.  She lingered just a little longer, trying to make some sense of the text, but as the light drifted farther and farther away, she hastened to catch up, running down a long, twisting passage.  Before she knew it, she had slammed into Jonathan's back as everyone halted suddenly.

            "Steady there, old girl," he said extending a hand for her to balance on.

            The passage had opened into a small room where the torchlight was blanketing over a small obelisk in the center.

            "There seems to be a different image carved into each side," Evy whispered more to herself than anyone else around.  On one side was a skeleton engulfed in flames.  On the next was a figure being impaled from above and below with large spikes.  The third was a person choked in the coils of a gigantic cobra.  The last held rats swarming a person.

            "What do you suppose it means?" Randi stared nervously.

            "Let's just hope we don't find out," Rick said looking into the next room.

            They turned the corner and came face to face with a small relief carving of a head with a blindfold.  Around the figure were more images of earthy treasures and evidence of coins having been left by visitors long ago.  Evy fished a coin out of her pocket and placed it in front of the figure.  "For good luck," she smiled.

            Rick instinctively latched on to Jonathan's hand, forcing him to drop the coin he had tried to pocket.  Another turn and they found themselves following yet another dark passage farther underground.  At the end seemed to be an entrance to a network of underground caves.   

            "There's something odd about these rock formations," Randi mussed as they walked by, trailing her finger gingerly along the wall.

            "That's because they're covered in molten gold!" Jonathan exclaimed.

            Immediately, there was a barrage of loud shrieking within the caves.

            "What was that?" Randi cringed as she latched onto Jonathan's arm.

            Rick grabbed the torch from Evy and held it above them.  Silence filled the air once more.  "Well, whatever it was ... " but before he could finish the statement, the chamber was suddenly filled with a screaming black cloud of bats.  "Run!" Rick shouted as they dashed around the columns and barriers formed by the rocks.  Finally, what seemed to be a chamber lay open in front of them. They dove inside and Rick rolled a large stone behind them, blocking the entrance.

            "Well, now that wasn't so bad... " Evy started to say, but as she stood, she noticed the skeletal remains of earlier temple visitors impaled on rows of spikes on either side of them.  

            "Well, that was nice of them to leave the door open for us," Jonathan said with an uneasy grin.

            Nervously, Randi leaned against the wall, using it for leverage as she stood up, but found the wall sinking under her weight.  She pulled back her hand quickly, but it was too late.  The block on the wall continued to sink back and the spiked ceiling above them began to lower.

            "Here we go again," Rick muttered, glancing wildly around.  The exit was several yards in front of them; they'd never make it out without a few new holes.  His eyes fell on a long sprout of bamboo that had found its way inside.  He grabbed it, lodging it between the ground and the roof of the chamber.  The ceiling strained against the bamboo pole, and with several crackling noises eventually stopped.  They took a moment to catch their breath and Rick picked up a dead torch that had been dropped by one of the permanent residents.  Lighting it, he passed it off to Jonathan.  "Here, now don't touch anything," he said as they made their way out of the chamber. 

************************************************************************

Alex sat out in the jeep, a small collection of pebbles resting in his lap.  He threw one of the pebbles, striking the base of a serpent column. "One stupid bracelet, and they don't let me even go into the temples anymore," he said, launching another pebble.  It hit the base of the column, chipping away a large section of stone.  Alex sat up, the pebbles tumbling out of his lap to the floorboard as he watched the column begin to teeter, slowly falling into the next.  The next in turn fell, causing yet the next to fall.  Once the dust settled, his eyes the row of columns up to the side of the temple where there was now a gapping hole in the rock.

"Oh, no," he said under his breath. "Not again."

*****

Rick stepped forward into the dark passageway, looking for the next potential trap, but failed to notice the decorated tile on which his foot landed.  With the scraping of stone against stone, the tile sank under him and he barely had time to jump out of the way as a large stone column fell with a crash from above.

            "It would appear that the stones with the diamond images on them release a sort of booby-trap mechanism," Randi said poking her head around the rubble.

            "Yeah, I kind of figured that out, Bevyn," Rick said, dusting himself off.  "Okay.  Don't touch *or* step on anything," he said jumping over from tile to tile.  The rest of the group carefully inched their way along the passage, Randi watching her hands as several times she unconsciously reached for the wall for balance.  The torchlight danced off the walls, spilling out into the chamber ahead.

            The passage opened into a large rotunda with intricate murals evident under the overgrowth.  "Help me pull these down," Evy said, tugging at the vines.  They snapped at the top, tumbling down into a large pile at her feet.  Rick handed his torch to Randi, forcefully pulling handfuls away, noticing that with each snap, the room began to fill with more and more sunlight.  Within a few moments, the wall was barren, showing pictographs of cloth, fruit, jewels, fowl, and other kinds of offerings surrounding a large figure. 

            "It's a calendar!" Evy exclaimed with an audible delight, staring up at the other sections of wall still shrouded in vegetation.

            "How so?" Rick looked back at her, taking the torch back from Randi.

            "Different seasons would cause the light to shine differently through those portals up there, illuminating the proper offering." She said, looking around in awe.  "And that," she said pointing to the large figure with closed eyes, "is Mara."

            "What's with the bridge and the snakes?" Rick asked with a quizzical look on his face.

            "I'm not sure," Evy mussed out loud.

            Randi was so caught up with the enchantment of the murals, she didn't notice the covered well at the center of the room until she backed into it.

            "Oh good, I could use a drink," Jonathan said, pushing the carved tablet off the top of the well.  Rick held the torch over carefully, glancing down into the well.  He placed a hand on the ledge of the stone, his shoulders dropping.

            "What is it?" Evy asked peering over.

            "Mummies," Rick answered in a deadpan voice.

            "Mummies?" everyone else questioned back.

            "Mummies," Rick answered again.  "I hate mummies."  He stood up straight, turning away from the well with a grimace.

            "What's wrong with mummies?" Randi looked around at the distraught faces.

            Rick gave a tired look and Jonathan ushered her onward.  "It goes back to a spot of car trouble..."

            Passing into the next chamber, they found an altar with three large stone tablets with relief carvings on them and more writing.

            "Oh, I wish I knew what these said," Randi remarked as she leaned in close.  

            "Yes, well," Jonathan said, pointing a torch at the center tablet where the symbols of earthly treasures were carved.  "I'd settle for just knowing what that one said."

            "Really, Mr. Carnahan," Randi smiled. "Aren't you the least bit curious?"

            "Oh I'm curious alright, but one mustn't be too greedy, you know," he said with a grin.

            At that moment, a sound drew everyone's attention.

            "What ..." Randi started, but she grew silent as Rick raised his hand.

            "Wait here," he ordered, wrapping his fingers over the hilt of his gun, passing the torch off to Evy.  He stayed close to the edge of the wall, listening closely, ready to act at the first sound.  Faint voices drifted into the rotunda room from the diamond passage. Rick waited by the entrance to the passage as a figure in a leather jacket and fedora stepped into the room, followed by a large man in a fez.  "Hold it right there," Rick said as he cocked the gun.

            The figure put up his hands and started to turn, then punched Rick square in the jaw, knocking the gun out of his hand.  "Oh. It's you."

            "Yeah, same to ya," Rick said, adjusting his jaw back into place.  He stooped over, grabbing his gun.  "What are you doing here, Jones?"

            "Well, I think that should be obvious, O'Connell."  He adjusted his coat, watching the other man holster his gun.  The trust for each other ran about as thick as the air.

            "What a coincidence!  You two know each other?" Sallah asked.

            "Unfortunately," they answered simultaneously.

            "Rick?" Evy said, heading back into the rotunda room.  "What's going on here?"

            "Dr. O'Connell?" Indy said, turning back to Rick as Evy came to stand by her husband.

            "You know this guy?" Rick said, glancing at Evy.  Indy's eyes darted back and forth from one O'Connell to the other, realization sinking in.

            "You have got to be kidding," Indy said, turning to Evy.  "You're married to *him*?"

            "Don't act so damned surprised," Rick said, furrowing his brow.  "She knows a good man when she sees one."

            "I suppose that depends on your definition of a 'good man,'" Indy shot back.

            "All right, that's enough," Evy said.  "Really, you two.  You sound like a couple of schoolboys.  Dr. Jones, just what are you doing here?"

            "Haven't we already discussed this?  I'm looking for the same thing you are."

"And just what makes you think you know what we're looking for?" Evy asked, crossing her arms in front of her.  She was not going to be outdone by a man.  Especially not *this* man.  If she could get the claim to the Temple of the Lost Delta before even the great Dr. Jones, just imagine what that would do for her career!

            "Well, first of all," Indy grinned, "look at where you are."

            "And secondly?" Evy pressed.

            "And secondly, I was at a kasbah where a very drunken gentleman with a British accent was talking about going to the Temple of the Lost Delta with a marked map."

            "Jonathan," Evy muttered under her breath.

            "Well, I'm sorry you wasted your time," Rick said finally getting up, "but as you can see, I think we have things under control.  Now, be sure not to get hit with one of those blocks on the way out," Rick said gesturing back down the passage to the entrance.

            "You can't possibly have any idea what you're dealing with here," Indy said as he tipped back his hat.

            "I think we've dealt with our fair share of these matters," Rick said crossing his arms.

            "Oh really?"  Indy looked at him.  "Then you are entirely aware that once you enter the Chamber of Destiny, you cannot look into the eyes of Mara?"

            "Okay, so one minor detail," Rick said with a wave of his hand.

            "What do you mean?" Evy asked with a raised eyebrow.

            "If you look into the eyes of Mara, you start a chain reaction which will bring this whole place down around our ears," Indy said.  "And I don't know about you, but the idea of a lava bath isn't too appealing to me."

            "Oh dear," Evy sighed.  "We'd better get Jonathan and Randi."

            "Relax," Indy said brushing his brow.  "As long as they aren't completely inept, they'll be fine a few minutes longer."

            Rick and Evy looked at each other for a moment, then rushed back into the room with the tablet alter.  "Jonathan!  Randi!"  

But the room was empty

************************************************************************

            Alex stood next to the jeep, staring at the rubble before him.  But he didn't really care much about it, as he drummed his fingers on the hood.  His eyes filtered up the row of fallen columns, landing curiously on the breach in the wall.  Climbing back into the driver's seat of the jeep, he turned the key carefully.  The engine sputtered a bit before roaring to life.  A mischievous grin shone on his face as he reached carefully for the gas pedal.  The jeep pitched forward, throwing the youth around a bit as the vehicle climbed easily over the fallen rocks.

*****

            "Umm, I'm not so sure about this," Randi said as they approached a set of three large doors.

            "Nonsense," Jonathan shrugged off her inhibition.  "We're just being economical with our time, getting a head start as it were."

            "Well, yes, be that as it may..." Randi said, still slightly unsure.

            "Nothing to be worried about," Jonathan continued as he held up the torch to the carvings above the doors.  Above each was the head of Mara, the one on the left with an odd purple glow and strange beams emanating from it, the one on the right with a blue shimmer and jugs of water flowing on either side, and the one in the center, shining gold surrounded by images of jewels and other riches.

            "That's the one we want," Jonathan said pressing on the center doors.  His feet skidded on the ground as he pushed.  "Seems to be a bit stuck ..."

            "You seek the treasure, written in gold," a voice suddenly boomed from above.  "It is yours ..."

            The doors swung open, sending Jonathan tumbling across the ground.  Randi ran in after him and knelt to help him up, but as she looked around, found herself absolutely entranced by the array of gold and jewels that glittered around them.  Jonathan's jaw dropped as well at the sight.

            "Have you ever ...?" Randi breathed

            "No ..." Jonathan was barely able to shake his head.

            "Could you ever have imagined ,,,?"

            "No ..."

            "They've already gone into the Chamber of Destiny," Indy shouted back as he rounded the corner.

            "Jonathan!" Evy shouted.  "Jonathan, don't look into the eyes!"

            But even as she said it, Randi's gaze had fallen onto the large idol head in the center of the room.

            "Foolish mortals!" the voice boomed just as the others skidded inside the chamber.  "You looked into my eyes!"  

            "You can't look into the eyes!" Indy said looking to Randi and Jonathan.

            "Ooohhh, you mean ... those eyes ..." Randi bit her lip sheepishly.

            "Yes, Bevyn, those eyes," Rick said holding his head in his hand.

            A flash of light issued forth from the statue and the entire room began to shake violently.  The voice began to bellow again.  "Your destiny now lies through the gates of doom!" A roaring, malicious laughter shook the very walls, shaking the temple.

            "Well how was I supposed to know," Randi quipped as Rick dragged her along.  

            They tried to go back, but found the path quickly blocked as the wall came crashing inward.  "Mum!  Dad!!" Alex cried out as the dust cleared.  "Come on!"  The group ran for the jeep, Randi pushing Alex over to take the driver's seat while Rick and Indy fought over the front, both cramming in, with Alex caught in the middle.  Evy, Jonathan, and Sallah piled into the back.

            "Go!" Indy ordered.

            "Is it wise to let her drive?" Jonathan asked Evy, but by then it was too late, as they careened through the collapsing Chamber of Destiny.

            "Left!" Indy shouted, pointing across Rick's face.  "Go left!"

            "Why should she listen to you?" Rick demanded.

            "Because otherwise we would have gone into that wall!"  Rick opened his mouth to remark, but found his efforts were better served holding on as Randi spun the wheel violently, the back end of the jeep sliding out as they swerved left.  "You had to look, didn't you?"

            "Lay off the girl," Rick said.  "She couldn't have known."  The jeep dropped suddenly as the floor dropped off in front of them, leading down into a cavern quickly filling with fire and molten rock.  A giant head of Mara stood in the center of the room, half of the face broken away to look like a skull as blasts of fire burst behind the eyes.

            "You're certain this was the better way to go?" Evy shouted over the rumble.

            "Hey, if you want to go back, by all means, be my guest!" Indy shot back.

            "Randi! Look out!" Jonathan shouted, pointing out their road was being eaten away by the climbing lava.  Randi veered left, taking them into a catacomb, the walls covered from floor to ceiling with skeletons and mummies seeming to come alive as they fell forward from the trembling of the temple.

            "Now, I hate mummies," Randi cringed as one narrowly missed her.  "Someone remind me why *I* had to drive?"

            "Because you're the one behind the wheel!" Rick shouted.

            "I'll drive!" Alex volunteered.

            "NO!" was clearly heard, coming from all other passengers.  Randi turned sharply again, the jeep spinning a full circle before screeching to a stop, stalling.

            "Bloody hell!" Randi shouted, banging on the steering wheel.  "Move your bloomin' arse!"

            "This usually helps," Rick said, turning the key in the ignition.

            "Oh.  Right."  As the engine roared back to life, Randi's foot hit the floor.

            "What's that crunching sound?" Jonathan asked.  Alex reached over, hitting the switch for the headlights.  The walls became illuminated from the shimmer off the array of insects blanketing the wall.  Randi let out a scream as the backend of the jeep spun out again, launching Indy into Rick, who in turn smothered Alex.

            "Get off!" Rick said, shoving Indy back up.  Randi slammed on the brakes, throwing everyone else out of their seats.  "What now?"  Randi pointed a shaky finger at the rickety bridge crossing the raging flow of lava beneath them.

            "Go for it," Indy said.

            "You absolutely sure about this?" Rick shouted back to Indy.

            "Yeah, I'm sure," he said, pulling his hat down tighter on his head.

            "Oh, well, if he's sure then," Jonathan muttered getting thrown back into his seat as Randi covered her eyes with her hands, slamming on the gas.  Alex reached over, grabbing the wheel.

            "Dad!"

            "Bevyn!"

            "What?!" she shouted, her eyes squeezed tight under her sweaty palms.  The engine died again, the jeep coming to a stop half way across.  "Is it over?" she asked, peeking between her fingers.

            "If it was over, would we still be moving?" Indy said, as the jeep dropped a foot in the air.

            "Indy, this is not good!" Sallah said, glancing back as several planks of the bridge fell to the lava below.

            "I know! I know!"  

Rick reached for the key again, the engine sputtering once more.  "Time to go!" he shouted as the carved snakeheads that supported the bridge on both sides began to fill with an eerie greenish glow.  Randi sat frozen in the seat, her hands glued to the wheel.  Alex reached over with his foot, slamming it down on Randi's.  The jeep sped forward, the ropes of the bridge snapping on either side just as they launched off the wooden planking, landing on solid stone.  Rick and Indy turned, watching the bridge burn as it sank into the lava.

"Well," Rick sighed, with a grin "at least we know it can't get any worse."

            Both men turned at the same time, the grins fading.  "Oh, it just go worse," Indy grimaced.  "Snakes, why is it always snakes?" he pondered as the giant cobra loomed up before them.  Randi's grip finally loosened up as she spun the wheel again, dodging the enormous serpent as it lunged for the vehicle.  The lava bed bubbled precariously close to the path now and the heat was severe.  They sped past the remnants of the fallen bridge assaulted by sporadic bursts of flames.  The other wall flickered with an eerie glow as thousands of candles melting into skulls burst to life, lighting the path ahead of them as they plunged into darkness, the jeep's engine ticking to a stop.

            "Where the hell did you get this thing?" Indy asked as Randi tried in vain to start the engine again.  

            "My brother-in-law works on jeeps," Sallah chimed in. "I'm sure he could fix it."

            "If we live that long," Rick remarked.

            A soft scuffling once again met their ears, but different than before. "Rats," Indy muttered.

            "What's wrong?" Randi looked towards him nervously, her hand hovering over the key.

            "No, I mean *rats*.  We're surrounded by rats."

            "Did...did you say...rats?" Jonathan stuttered.  "Come on, Randi, get this thing moving!"

            "What?" she asked, turning the key with a silent click.  "You aren't afraid of a couple fuzzy little creatures, are you?"  The dying engine lurched, the headlights sparking, throwing light on the wall moving before them.

            "A couple, perhaps not," Jonathan said, his eyes growing wide.  "But a couple *thousand*..."  Randi hit the gas, the rats dropping onto the hood from the violent shaking of the temple.  Jonathan screamed as one fell into his lap, until Evy picked it up, throwing it out of the jeep.  Randi swerved hard to the right, avoiding the real wall in front of them, then back to the left before stopping.

            "What?  What are we stopping for?" Indy asked, staring down the long passageway lined with skeletons holding little tubes to their bony jaws.

            "Why am I reminded of pigmies?" Rick asked.

            "Only these are bigger," Alex replied.  "Much, *much* bigger."

            "What?" Indy questioned as Randi hit the gas, barreling down the passage.  Darts whizzed past their heads, the group ducking as Randi attempted to watch for the end of the passage through the steering wheel.  She spun the wheel hunched over, sending them flying around the corner.  She slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop just before the dead end.  Indy stood up as the shaking of the temple calmed, lashing out his whip up into the darkness.  It caught on something strong enough to support his weight.  "Get a light on up here," he said, climbing the whip.  Evy turned around quickly, fishing through the supplies miraculously still tied to the back of the jeep.

            "I know we've got a torch back here somewhere..." she said, her hand falling on the cold metal handle.  "Ah ha!" she shouted triumphantly, spinning around to shine a light up to Indy.  He turned away from the bright white, his eyes catching something moving in the dark beside him.  The temple began to shake again, accompanied by a loud rumbling.  He started losing his grip, sliding down the whip.

            "Back it up! Back it up!!" he shouted, his eyes growing wide.  He dropped down into the jeep just as a giant boulder came into view above them.  The ground shook violently, the floor giving out beneath them.

            "Hang on!" Randi shouted, throwing her foot into the gas pedal as she held her breath and closed her eyes.  The jeep staggered over the rubble that fell out below them, creating a ladder down as the boulder crashed above their heads.  They landed on a flat surface, Randi daring to open her eyes.

            "There!" Evy shouted, pointing over their heads to the sunlight filtering in through a gap in the wall of the temple.  The jeep jolted around, up and through the gap, following a long tunnel toward daylight.  A very audible sigh of relief was heard from every passenger in the jeep.  "Alex," Evy said, leaning over to her son with a grin, "wasn't that the way you had come in?"

            "I think so, Mum," he answered, looking back behind them.  All eyes turned to Indy.

            "What?" he said bewildered.  "How was I supposed to know where he had come from?"  Indy shook his head, pulling the fedora down over his eyes.

            "Umm, guys?" Randi said as the jeep burst back into the jungle.  She planted her foot into the brake pedal, but the jeep would not slow.

            "What is it, Randi?" Rick asked, ruffling his son's hair.

            "I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news and all, but... We have no brakes."  Her words came a moment too late however, as the jeep slammed into the trunk of a tree.  Stunned, everyone filed out of the jeep, nearly falling over, as while the ground was still, their legs were not.

            "Well," Rick said with a grin, "she still drives better than Jonathan."

            "Next time," Indy said, as he fell into the hood of the steaming jeep, "you're on your own."

Disclaimer:  No deities or temples were harmed in the writing of this story.  Actually, the Mummy characters are property of Universal; Indy characters are property of LucasFilms.  The Temple of the Lost Delta is property of Disney.  Randi Bevyn is property of GoblinQueeen.

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